News & Events

Current News and Notes

March 2015

Last year, as he watched the construction of Honey Field, Bard's $2.2 million baseball facility, sophomore Adam Carafotes stated, "I'm going to the hit the first home run here." On Wednesday, March 25, he did exactly that, leading the baseball team to a sweep of Elmira College, 17-10 and 6-0. They were Bard's first two wins of the season and the team's first wins at the new home field.http://bardathletics.com/news/2015/3/25/BB_0325152038.aspx

Join author Neil Gaiman on Friday, April 3, for a dialogue with legendary musician and composer Laurie Anderson in this third edition of an ongoing series of public conversations at the Fisher Center hosted by Professor Gaiman. The discussion will center on the topics of “Story Structure” and “Fiction vs. Autobiography.” Presented by Live Arts Bard, the program takes place on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sosnoff Theater of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2666

Student leaders from institutions in the Bard network gathered for the second annual international Civic Engagement conference in Istanbul, Turkey, from March 14 to 19. "Get Engaged: A Bard/HESP Student Networking Conference: Student Action and Youth Leadership: Civic Engagement, Social Entrepreneurship, and the Liberal Arts" included 38 students from the Bard/HESP Network (Higher Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations) and affiliated institutions. Students engaged in community-based work (either on or off campus) were selected to attend and presented project proposals during the event. The conference focuses on student networking, leadership, and international collaborations.http://www.bard.edu/news/news.php?id=120

Multiple Grammy Award–winning musician Rubén Blades will speak to Bard High School Early College students in Manhattan and Queens this month. The iconic Panamanian singer, songwriter, composer, actor, activist and politician visited the Manhattan campus on March 11 and will visit the Queens campus this coming Wednesday, March 25, to talk about his remarkable career. A prolific musician who is known for bringing lyrical sophistication to his salsa compositions, Blades is also an acclaimed film and television actor. He ran for the presidency of Panama in 1994, winning 18 percent of the vote. He served a five year-term as the Panamanian minister of tourism and has been an activist and humanitarian. Blades holds law degrees from the University of Panama and Harvard University. He told the BHSEC–Manhattan students that "education was instrumental" in his life, and "I think the fact that I was educated helped me tremendously, not only in terms of my appreciation of the opportunity but in my capacity to sustain it."Read More

This year, Bard College is celebrating its 25th anniversary as publisher of the renowned literary magazine Conjunctions. Edited by Bradford Morrow—novelist, Bard Center Fellow, and professor of literature—Conjunctions is widely respected as the preeminent source for the best in innovative, provocative, rigorously realized fiction, poetry, and narrative nonfiction. Events to celebrate the anniversary include a special reading on Thursday, March 26, featuring Conjunctions contributors and Bard faculty members Mary Caponegro ’78, Ann Lauterbach, Neil Gaiman, Benjamin Hale, Robert Kelly, Francine Prose, and Morrow. The anniversary will also be marked by a special exhibition at Stevenson Library, as well as a celebratory reading and fund-raiser in the Spiegeltent on July 23.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2661

Beginning on March 29, The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) presents 11 exhibitions and projects curated by second-year students in its graduate program in curatorial studies and contemporary art with 10 individual exhibitions curated by each student, along with a student-curated Marieluise Hessel Collection show. Moves & Countermoves will be on view through May 3, 2015, with the opening reception taking place on Sunday, March 29 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2665

James Ketterer, director of international academic initiatives at Bard's Center for Civic Engagement, gave a lecture this week at Future University of Egypt (FUE), where he spoke about the role of education and cultural affairs as a component of diplomacy, especially focusing on U.S.–Egyptian relations. He was hosted at FUE by Dr. Abdul Monen Al Mashat, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, and his talk was arranged by Professor Yasmine Zein Al-Abedine, who spent last summer at Bard as part of the U.S. Foreign Policy Institute sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. While in Egypt, Ketterer is also meeting with officials at the U.S. Embassy, the U.S. Agency for International Development, educational nongovernmental organizations, and the American University in Cairo.

President Botstein writes that education and the preservation of democracy are deeply connected. "The purpose, challenge, and substance of education in a democracy are defined by two questions: How ought we to live, side by side, not as lone individuals but as citizens?" He asks. "And how can we, through education, help individuals answer that question?"http://www.democracyjournal.org/36/are-we-still-making-citizens.php

Bard artist in residence Medrie MacPhee, alumnus Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford '06, and former visiting artists James Clark and Jane Rosen have been selected for the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Annual Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts. The exhibition features paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper by 40 contemporary artists and will be on view at the galleries of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City from March 12 through April 12. Participating artists were chosen from a pool of over 200 nominees submitted by the members of the Academy.http://www.artsandletters.org/press_releases/2015invitational.php

The Justus and Karin Rosenberg Foundation has announced a gift to Bard College to create a student internship program that begins in the summer of 2015. The Rosenberg internships enable students to gain hands-on experience with nonprofit groups and other organizations that focus on hatred, antisemitism, extremism, and xenophobia. In the context of rising waves of violent religious and ethnic prejudice in Europe and elsewhere, of which the Charlie Hebdo attack and the killing of Jews in France and Denmark are just recent examples, the program will support work on the front lines of the struggle for human rights.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2664

Nineteen student-athletes from Bard have qualified for the Liberty League's 2014–15 All-Academic Teams in their respective sports. Commissioner Tracy King announced that 228 athletes earned the distinction across the league. Winter championship sports include men's and women's basketball, men's squash, and men's and women's swimming and diving. To be recognized as a member of the All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or higher in class standing with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.20.http://bardathletics.com/news/2015/3/5/MBB_0305150927.aspx

The International Center of Photography (ICP) has announced the honorees of the 2015 Infinity Awards. Larry Fink, Bard College professor of photography, won the award for art. Larry Fink has been a professional photographer for more than 55 years. Fink has been awarded two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and two Individual Photography Fellowships. He has been teaching for more than 52 years. The Infinity Awards are widely respected as the leading honor for excellence in photography. The Awards will be presented at a gala on Thursday, April 30, at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2663

February 2015

Several Bard College students participated in the annual Student World Affairs Conference, sponsored by the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley and hosted by Marist College on Saturday, February 28. Papers were presented by Gabriel Matsakis '15, Wilson Brehmer '16, and Grady Nixon '17. Sana Mustafa '17 also attended and participated in panel discussions. Professor James Ketterer served as discussant for the panel on "Religious and Multiethnic Conflict." Other schools participating included the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, SUNY New Paltz, Vassar College, Marist College, and the University at Delaware.

Two Bard students, Julia Lang Gordon '17 and Maeve Weber '16, attended the annual Wheatley International Affairs Conference hosted by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, February 24–28. The conference draws students from across the United States, offering opportunities to learn from and interact with experts in international affairs in a context that facilitates networking, first-rate instruction, energetic exchanges of ideas, and collaborative work on policy issues. This year’s theme was "The Middle East: Power, Politics, & Prospects for Peace." Keynote speakers were Marc Lynch of George Washington University and Amaney Jamal of Princeton University. Read More

On Friday, February 27, Bard College welcomed more than 100 students and teachers to campus for the Fourth Annual Middle and High School Debate Tournament. Hosted by the Bard Debate Union and the Center for Civic Engagement, the day's events included competitive debates, conversation, and collaborative programs with young participants and Bard College student mentors. Visitors came to campus from the Bard High School Early Colleges in Manhattan, Newark, Queens, and Cleveland, as well as from the Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Kingston Schools. Students participated in three rounds of debate on the topics of police brutality, national security, and abolishing homework in primary and secondary education.

Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Mass., sponsors the annual Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, a series of events celebrating Women’s History Month in March. Held on campus and at venues throughout Berkshire County, this year's festival features more than 50 events including readings, lectures, workshops, performances, and film screenings. Read More

A paper by Bard College Berlin student Dylan Davis (B.A. 2016, USA) on the relationship between hate and equality has won an essay contest across several Bard-affiliated campuses. In the fall of 2014, students at Bard College and its partners at Al-Quds University in the West Bank, the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, and Bard College Berlin participated in the Academic Initiative on Hate and the Human Condition. Courses that explored and reflected on the problem of hate were offered at participating campuses, and final papers written by students in these classes were eligible for the essay contest. Following the evaluation by a panel of judges from the four institutions, Dylan Davis's paper "Beyond Hate: Exploring the Relationship Between Hate and Equality" was selected as the winner.http://www.berlin.bard.edu/news/view/archive/2015/march/article/student-paper-selected-winner-in-essay-competition-across-bard-campuses/

The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College presents Joseph Haydn’s The Creation, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director. Performances take place on Friday, March 6, and Saturday, March 7, at 8 p.m. with a preconcert talk at 7 p.m. by James Bagwell, chorus master. Considered Haydn’s masterpiece, this large oratorio features members of the American Symphony Orchestra, Bard College Conservatory Orchestra, Bard Festival Chorale, Bard Chamber Singers, Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program, and Longy Chorale.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2662

On Monday, March 2, Lily Tuck, the National Book Award–winning author of The News from Paraguay, Siam, I Married You for Happiness, and other books of fiction and biography, will read from her work at Bard College. “Tuck is a genius with moments … Her ability to capture beauty will remind readers of Marguerite Yourcenar and Marguerite Duras” (Los Angeles Book Review). Tuck will be introduced by novelist and Bard literature professor Bradford Morrow. The reading, presented as part of Morrow’s Innovative Contemporary Fiction Reading Series, takes place at 2:30 p.m. in Weis Cinema at the Bertelsmann Campus Center. It is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2659

Representatives from Bard College and its international partners participated in the annual Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) conference, held February 15–18 in Washington, D.C. AIEA is composed of institutional leaders from across the globe engaged in advancing the international dimensions of higher education. Bard was well represented at the 2015 conference. Susan Gillespie, vice president for special global initiatives, chaired a panel on "Implementing Liberal Arts and Sciences Education in Russia and Palestine." Panelists included Rebecca Granato, assistant dean of Al Quds Bard, and Denis Akhapin, deputy dean for academic affairs at Smolny College. In addition, James Ketterer, Bard's director of international academic initiatives, chaired a panel on "The Paul Simon Award and Comprehensive Internationalization."

The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) held its 12th commencement on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at Eastern New York Correctional Facility in Napanoch. Fifty-one students received Bard College degrees. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, delivered the commencement address and received an honorary doctorate. The Bard Prison Initiative began as a student-led project in 1999 and now operates six programs in New York State. Bard College has conferred over 330 A.A. and B.A. degrees through BPI since 2005.

This summer marks an historic season for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. Turning for the first time to Latin America, Bard expands its horizons with eight weeks of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret, all keyed to the theme of the 26th Bard Music Festival, "Chávez and His World." This intensive exploration of the life and times of Carlos Chávez, the central figure in 20th-century Mexican music, also represents something of a homecoming, for it is a full decade since SummerScape last trained its focus on the New World.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2660

Bard students Julia Minin '16 and Jared Rabinowitz '16 participated in the 56th Annual U.S. Air Force Academy Assembly, held February 2–4 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The topic for this year's assembly was "U.S.-Russia Relations: Refocus. Rebuild. Reenergize." Convened annually since 1959, the Academy Assembly is a student-planned, undergraduate conference held by the Air Force Academy and cosponsored with Columbia University's American Assembly. This year's conference focused on the current crisis in Ukraine. Student delegates are divided into small roundtables moderated by senior representatives from academia and government. Distinguished speakers provide expert perspective and information on the topic at hand. This year's keynote speaker was Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia. The Bard students' attendance was supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

The Fisher Center presents "breathtaking visionary" Cynthia Hopkins in her newest work, A Living Documentary. The performance takes place on February 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the LUMA Theater. A Living Documentary is a hilarious and searing reflection on the trials and tribulations of earning a living as a professional theater artist in the 21st century. Intertwining elements of musical comedy, documentary, and fiction, the show intersperses autobiographical storytelling with portrayals of semi-fictional comedic characters, all the while asking myriad questions about the realities of artistic life in New York City.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2658

Author Laura van den Berg, writer in residence at Bard College, reads from her recent work on Monday, February 23. The free program begins at 7 p.m. in the László Z. Bitó ’60 Auditorium in Bard’s Reem-Kayden Center. Van den Berg received the 2015 Bard Fiction Prize for her book The Isle of Youth. In this collection of stories, van den Berg explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception. The characters are at once vulnerable and dangerous, bighearted and ruthless—grappling with the choices they have made and searching for the clues to unlock their inner worlds.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2655

The Italian Studies Program at Bard College presents Francesco Ciabattoni to give a talk on "Dante's Musical Design in the Commedia." The lecture examines the premise that Dante's journey through the Christian netherworld is not without its own soundtrack. From the cacophonous, failed attempts at presenting sacred music in Hell, the pilgrim goes on to listen to Purgatory's expiatory performances of Gregorian chants; and from the music of pure innocence in the Garden of Eden, Dante ascends to the complex and bedazzling beauty of polyphony in Paradise. Ciabattoni will explain the musicological and theological underpinnings of Dante's chosen musical settings. The event takes place on Thursday, March 5, at 5 p.m. in Weis Cinema of the Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard College.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2656

The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College presents Sō Percussion and Grey McMurray in Where (we) Live. The performance takes place on February 14 and 15 in the LUMA Theater. In the second performance of Branches—a multiyear partnership between the Fisher Center, The Bard College Conservatory of Music, and the John Cage Trust to highlight Sō Percussion’s integration into the artistic and academic community of Bard College—this “ambitious, beguiling show” (New York Times) blends music, video, and storytelling in a theatrical creation that reflects on notions of community and home. The performances, directed by Ain Gordon, feature guitarist Grey McMurray, choreographer Emily Johnson, and guest artists Aron Sanchez and Caroline Wallner. Additional program information can be found at fishercenter.bard.edu.http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2657